Lettering pen



E. G. HENRY LETTERING PEN Nov. 7; 1950 Filed May 15, 1948 INVENTOR: 6M M, %.-r,7

Patented Nov. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LETTERING PEN Earle G. Henry, Wilmette, 111.

Application May 15, 1946, Serial No. 669,734

8 Claims.

One object of my present invention is to pro vide an improved form of hinge for attaching the lid to the pen, which shall insure better registration of the gage with the nibs of the pen. Another object of my invention is to provide improved means for maintaining the lid in a closed position, against the nibs of the pen.

1 attain the aforesaid objects by means of the improved construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a top, perspective view of a pen embodying my invention in one of the two forms herein illustrated and described; Fig. 2 is a bottom, perspective view of the lettering pen shown in Fig, 1; Fig. 3 is a bottom, perspective view of the pen embodying the other form of my invention herein illustrated and described; Fig. 4 is a top view of the lid, which is alike in both of the disclosed forms of my invention and which is shown attached to pens in Figures 1, 2 and 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the lid closing spring used with the form of my invention shown in Figures 1 and 2; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the lid closing spring used with the form of my invention shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, in detail, I I is asteel writing pen of a conventional form, in which three special, round holes [2, l3 and I4 have been punched; the first two of these holes being disposed on opposite sides of the pen, near the long edges of the body portion of the pen. [5 is a second steel writing pen, of a somewhat different, conventional form, in which only two of the spe cial holes, l2 and it, have been punched. I8 is a lid, triangula in shape and preferably cut out and formed from sheet metal, having at one end a hinge pintle comprising two flat ears l9, curved as will hereafter be explained, and at the other end two bent up f anges 29 and 2|. When the two ears E9 on such a lid are inserted in holes l2 and :3, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, which may most conveniently be accomplished by momentarily springing apart the resilient sides of the pen, the ears are free to turn in the holes, thereby forming a hinge joint between the lid and the pen. The width Of the body of the lid, between the opposite edges 22 at the base of the triangle,

2 must be definitely less'than the inside width of the pen, so that binding may not occur.

For various reasons, there is considerable variation in width among individual pens, even though they may bear the same catalog number and, in any event, the cost of producing pens accurately the same in width would be prohibitive. Since it would not be practicable to makelids of different widths, to fit the individual pens, it is necessary to make all of the lids sufiiciently narrow to fit freely between the sides of the narrowest pen which may be encountered. Then, when one of these lids is attached to one of the wider pens, there is bound to be considerable play, sideways, between the lid and the pen. Unless special measures are adopted, this excessive sideplay tends to prevent proper registration between the flanges 2B and 2! of the lid and the nibs of the pen when it is attempted to bring them together, upon swinging the lid down into the closed position, as shown in Figures 1 and 2; especially since the permissible clearance between the flanges 20 and 2| and the nibs is only a few thousandths of an inch. I overcome this difficulty by giving a special shape to the two ears I9; the parallel edges of the ears l9 being arcs of circles having a common center at the mid-point 23 between the two flanges Z0 and 2! at the extreme end of the lid. Consequently, any sideways shift of the hinge end of the lid, which may occur on account of an exceptionally loose sideways fit between a lid and a pen, at the hinge joint, will have no effect on the relative position of the free ends of the pen and the lid, respectively, since both of the said free ends are at the center of the arc of relative sideways motion.

The lid for open II is normally held in the closed position by a spring 24, which is preferably made of round spring wire and which, as best seen in Fig. 5, has a U-shaped middle portion 25 and two straight end portions 26 and 2'! which are bent to approximately right angle with the plane of the U-shaped portion 25. When properly assembled with the pen and lid, as best seen in Fig. 2, the middle portion 25 of the spring fits around the narrow, neck-like portion 28 of the body of the pen which occurs between the hole 14 and the edge of the pen, while the two straight end portions 26 and 21 of the spring lie one above the other between the bottom of the trough in the pen and the under side of the lid. The parts are so proportioned that the spring is under stress and thus is securely held in position. Part 26 presses downwardly against the inside ofthe pen and part 21 presses up against the lid adjacent to the rear edge 3! of the latter, being thereby biased to maintain the lid in; the closed position shown in Figures 1 and 2. When the two straight end portions 34 and 35 which are bent to approximately right angles with the plane of the U shaped portion. sembled with the pen and lid, as shown in Fig. 3,

the middle portion 33 of the spring 32 fits into the narrow channel or constricted portion 36 of the body of the pen, while the end portions 34 and 35 underlie the rear or base end of the lid; the spring being under stress and thus held securely in assembly with the other parts. The two sharp ends of the wire are safely disposed in the space between the lid and the pen, as in the case of the assembly shown in Fig. 2. Both of the straight end portions 34 and 35 press outwardly or upwardly against the lid adjacent to the rear edge 3] of the latter and thereby maintain the lid in a closed position or return it to the closed position when it is opened, away from the pen, as for the purpose of cleaning the assembly, as shown in Fig. 3.

'VVhile I have illustrated and described with particularity only two preferred forms of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structuraldetails thus illustrated and described; but desire instead to cover all forms and arrangements that come within the definitions of the invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a pen having flexible nibs, a lid having at one end elements lying on opposite sides of the nibs to limit the spread of the latter and a hinge connection between the other end of the lid and the pen to permit the lid to be swung from and toward the nibs: Wherein the, hinge connection comprises apintle 0n the lid and having projecting ends extending through When properly as- 4 to approximately right angles with the plane of the said U-shaped middle portion, the middle portion of the spring being anchored to the pen and the end portions lying in the space between the pen and the lid.

4. In combination, a pen having flexible nibs, a lid pivotally joined to the pen and a spring made of wire for biasing the lid into a closed position against the pen, the middle portion of the spring being U-shaped and anchored to the pen and the ends of the wire constituting the spring lying within the space between the lid and the pen near the place where the same are pivotally joined together.

5. In combination, a pen having flexible nibs, a lid pivotally joined to the pen and a spring made of wire for biasing the lid into a closed position against the pen, the pen having a hole therein near the hinge axis,,and the spring having a U-shaped portion engaged within the said hole and end portions arranged in the space between the pen and the lid and thereby properly position the spring relative to the pen and the lid.

6. In combination, a pen having flexible nibs, a lid pivotally joined to the pen, and a spring made of wire for biasing the lid into a closed position against the pen, the body portion of the pen having a groove formed therein transversely of the longitudinally axis of the pen and near the pivotal axis of the lid and the spring having a U-shaped portion fitting within the said groove 7 and end portions arranged in the space between and fitting rotatably inholes in the pen on opon opposite sides of thenibs to limit the spread of the nibsand having at the other end a pintle extending transversely of the pen, the pen having in opposite sides holes forming bearings for the ends of the, pintle, and said pintlehaving end portions of uniform width and being curved in the arc of a circle that has its center midway between the said elements to allow the lid to swing about said center and a fixed point that registers with the latter, in case the pen is substantially wider than the hinged end of the lid, and thus maintain the proper relation of said elements with the nibs regardless of the width of the pen, and spring means yieldingly to hold the lid down.

3; In combination, a pen having flexible nibs, a lid pivotally joined to the pen and a spring made of wire for biasing the lid into a closed position against the pen, the spring having a U-shaped middle portion and straight end portions bent the pen and the lid thereby properly positioning the spring relative to the pen and the lid.

7. A lid for attachment to trough shaped pens of different widths and having hearings in the form of holes directly opposite each other in the sides, having at one end elements spaced apart far enough to receive between them the nibs of a pen, and having at the other end laterally extending'hinge pintles curved in the arc of a circle having its center midway between said elements. i I r 8. In combination, a trough shaped pen having flexible nibs, a lid overlying the nibs and hinged to the pen at its inner end, the pen having a hole in' one side, inwardly from the hinge, and a wire spring having an intermediate U-shaped portion threaded through said hole and extending transversely of the pen, and end portions of the spring arranged at an angle tothe plane of the U and extending into the space between the pen and the lid, one of said end portions pressing against the pen and the other pressing against the lid. 1

EARLE G. HENRY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 709,260 Gillespie Sept. 16, 1902 779,567 Tartsch Jan. 10, 1905 1,390,290 Henry Sept. 13, 1921 1,820,226 Hughes Aug. 25, 1931 2,104,479 George Jan. 4, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 73,382 Switzerland 1917 225,744 Great Britain Dec. 11, 1924 477,466 Great Britain Dec. 31, 1937 

